| Author | Topic | | Shredhead
Junior Member
Australia
322 Posts |  Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 07:52:04  
| Ok , for too long now I've been plauged by " I'm faster than you dad " , & while speed is cool , it's not everything . Feeling , emotion , the ability to express ones inner battles & workings , is just as , if not more , important than speed . We've all heard " art , for arts sake " , can't the same be said for speed ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3M2X4ZAH_w
Now , I'm not bagging these guys at all , because they obviously have a LOT more talent than I do , but , is this speed for speeds' sake ? |
but some of you need to be awakened and slapped silly - William D Rauser |
| AnonJr
Absent-minded Webmaster
USA
621 Posts | Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 07:57:51
| | To each his own? |
There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you.
- Will Rogers |  |
| Shredhead
Junior Member
Australia
322 Posts | Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 17:44:19
| | I completely agree Anon , & if someone wants to listen to 33.3rpm played at 45rpm , good luck to them . I just think there's more to playing than , " look how fast I can play " , there's more to music than that . Nor do I think speed determines ones.....fretboard prowess . |
but some of you need to be awakened and slapped silly - William D Rauser | |
| AnonJr
Absent-minded Webmaster
USA
621 Posts | Posted - 16 Jun 2007 : 18:51:38
| There is more to music than zipping up and down the fretboard as fast as you can - but it is a skill, and to those who find value in that skill I hear that band is one of the top players.
Personally, I don't see the attraction if there isn't a little more to it. Then again, I am a big Clapton fan - you know, the Anti-Shredder 'Slowhand'.  |
There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you.
- Will Rogers | |
| AXEMAN2415
Guitar Weenie
USA
740 Posts | Posted - 18 Jun 2007 : 21:47:08
| Naturally, I think speed is a great thing, but really, how fast can you go before it becomes indistinguishable? Besides, speed is a relatively different perception depending upon your consistency with tempo; A great example is Marty Freidman, formerly of Megadeth. He is certainly capable of some very fast playing, but most of his interesting speedy stuff was simply eighth and sixteenth notes, but played at very even tempos. And, he tended to play very wide intervals, which makes you sound like you are playing faster than you actually are. I mean, as fast as Yngwie Malmsteen is, a lot of his speed is in sweep picking arpeggios, although his staight scale playing is absolutely stunning.
I like speed, but there are fast players who aren't very good to listen to. I am not one of those that believes that only slow playing is soulful. However, I do believe in the power of one note. Melody should always take precedence over sheer speed. And, of course, great tone should be a priority.
I mean, Edward Van Halen isn't the speed demon he once was (or at least, he chooses not to be), but even when he was the fastest gun on the scene, his tone is what made everyone's head turn. DiMiola was way faster than Edward, in terms of sheer speed, but it was VH's songs and tone that made everyone do a double take.
Another thing that I think should be considered by the young guns: Try and play something non-guitaristic, like a horn line, or a piano line, on your guitar. Even at moderate speeds, those kinds of pieces are quite difficult to play. Try playing the keyboard part to Boston's "Foreplay". That's in eighth note triplets, and it is in a tempo that isn't that fast. But it isn't very "guitaristic" in nature, and the technical execution to perform it on guitar is rather difficult. Speed is completely relative to phrasing.
I love what Ritchie Blackmore once said in an interview, when he was asked what he thought of Yngwie. Blackmore said, "Obviously, Malmsteen is a fantastic player. But when he can break all of the strings on his guitar but one, and still play the same piece, then I'll be impressed."
Tell your son that, Shred. |
"C'mon Dave, Gimme a break!" | |
| Mazahs
Starting Member
USA
4 Posts | Posted - 14 Aug 2007 : 05:46:55 
| I always like how people put these shredders on a pedestal and seek to emulate them. We have more clones running around than we have Steve Vais, EVH's, Randy Rhoads, blah, blah, blah. why can't people just be themselves and find their own voice on the instrument, is that too much or too difficult to do? Apparently so because it seems kids today only vie to be 'faster and more brutal' than the last band to come out of their city.
Interestingly enough, I had listened to Dragonforce waaay back when they were still Dragonheart (yep, even had their demo disc 'valley of the damned' from mp3.com) and nothing has changed, the songs all sound the same, Zach (zp) is still a high pitched, nasal-esque vocals, but the one thing they have changed it that they have sped up the tempo to such a pace that getting into something like this is completely unbearable for me and does indeed show a 'speed for the sake of speed' cliche.
I think I'll go listen to Bach's tocatta and fugue in D minor now, at least that has great dynamics :) |
Pope
| |
| AXEMAN2415
Guitar Weenie
USA
740 Posts | Posted - 14 Aug 2007 : 12:32:54
| Shazam! I am glad you decided to join us, Mahahs!
Yeah, I agree, finding your own voice on the instrument should be a higher proiority. Of course, I'm not all that original (lol), so I guess I shouldn't talk. But, I am working on it. |
"C'mon Dave, Gimme a break!" | |
| AnonJr
Absent-minded Webmaster
USA
621 Posts | Posted - 14 Aug 2007 : 20:02:13
| quote:
Originally posted by Mazahs
We have more clones running around than we have Steve Vais, EVH's, Randy Rhoads, blah, blah, blah.
So its an attack of the clones?
Seriously though, last I checked what has defined the great musicians of any age is that they did their own thing and they did it to their heart's delight regardless of what everyone else was doing. Techniques (when learned/mastered) were used because it fit what needed playing, not for their own sake.
Incidentally, I wish Hollywood would get the same clue about CG.... I love computers, and I love some of the computer generated scenes/effects/etc., but they are NOT substitutes for good writing and a solid plot. |
There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you.
- Will Rogers | |
| | | Topic | |
 |
Media
